Preview: Amadeus

“There’s no ‘i’ in ‘team’, or ‘Amadeus’ … but there’s two in ‘Salieri’!”


Following “the rivalry between eighteenth-century composers Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart”, we chatted with Amadeus directors Rishi Sharma and Tom Shortland to find out how they are bringing Peter Shaffer’s play about “jealousy, revenge, morality and the purpose of art” to the stage.

The pair’s fantastic individual backgrounds in theatre have meant that inspiration for pitching Amadeus was a “natural progression” from shows they’d done before:

“Tom directed Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt in March at the Corpus Playroom, which featured a jazz reinterpretation of Edvarg Grieg’s original music. Rishi, meanwhile, wrote a play called Garry Bonds’ Balanced Breakfasts, which was put on in May (also at the Corpus) and dealt with similar themes like personal ambition, revenge, and jealousy. We also wanted to direct something incredibly unique from a production standpoint: something which was opulent in some ways but also minimalist in other ways.”

Image credits: Charmaine Au-Yeung

When asked about whether the production of Shaffer’s play Equus played any part in inspiring Amadeus, the two stated that although “Rishi saw Equus at the ADC and really enjoyed it”, commenting on its “incredibly bold and striking” effect, the former play was not taken into account when pitching Amadeus.

“Rishi felt that one of the best things about that production was its determination to operate on its own terms, which is something we think all great shows do. If we were trying to be the ‘successor’ to an earlier Shaffer production, we think it would spoil what’s unique about both our show and theirs.”

And indeed, Amadeus promises a bold and ambitious vision for the production, facilitated by “a fantastic cast and crew” who “have kept rehearsals incredibly fun and full of energy.” Rehearsals had been scheduled long in advance to “accommodate people’s busy schedules”, clearly a testament to the amount of time, dedication and passion that has gone into this play.

As well as this, the endeavour to facilitate an entire orchestra on the stage has been meticulously planned over months of work, even experimenting with 3D software to test whether the orchestra would fit!

“It took a lot of persuasion to convince people it could be done, but we did it! For achieving this, we’d like to thank our amazing production designer Rory Clarke, as well as our musical director William Want and the incredible music team. The orchestra themselves are unbelievably talented: playing music whilst under the full glare of stage lights and intense acting is a challenge, but they’ve risen to it very well. They also have moments where they interact with the action on stage, which I think some of them are looking forward to more than others! We play with space, lighting and music throughout the show to create an intimate atmosphere which lets the audience into the mind of Salieri.”

Image credits: Charmaine Au-Yeung

If you needed any more convincing to see what promises to be a spectacle of a production this week, look no further than to the directors’ final thoughts on the show to explore how Amadeus touches our lives today:

“We don’t think Amadeus has ever been a play about dead white guys making operas that go ‘ma ma ma mi mi mi’. It just uses this setting (and the soundtrack which naturally comes with it) as a backdrop to tell a story about jealousy, ambition, and obsession. This play depicts these characters through a really unique lens. There’s a story about when Margaret Thatcher, who wasn’t known as a big theatre fan, went to see the play. She was shocked at the portrayal of Mozart as a loudmouthed manchild (as he was in real life) and gave the director, Peter Hall, an earful afterwards. Even when he insisted that he was like that in real life, she replied ‘I don’t think you heard what I said. He couldn’t have been like that’.”

“We also think that the emotions it portrays – jealousy, guilt and the fear of being forgotten, to name a few – have always and will always be important. Aesthetically, costume has been a big part of creating a modern and fresh look whilst still staying true to the period: all three of the costume designers are incredible and their creativity and resourcefulness has made our “modern rococo” vision a stunning reality.”

Quickfire round!

Favourite line/moment from the show?

Sri Haran Loganathan (Mozart): I love Mozart’s introduction to the audience – it really sums up his character and (hopefully) should give a lot of laughs.

Why should people come to see Amadeus?

Sri Haran: Because it promises to be a truly unique experience – live orchestra, Rococco costumes, an amazing story, what isn’t there to love?

Thea Melton (Constanze Mozart): Cast and crew are incredibly talented and have worked so hard. The show gives you a bit of everything drama, angst, comedy and live music.

Amadeus-inspired final words of wisdom?

Sri Haran: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good!

Thea: Constanze is a girl boss and very savvy so her wise words would probably be to ‘secure the bag by any means’ (maybe not any means but do what you gotta do).

Rishi and Tom: I think the best Amadeus-inspired line is one we’ve made up ourselves in rehearsals: ‘That’s Amadeus, baby!’ It’s not in the script, but it’s emblematic of the amazing spirit of our production and how incredible it’s been to be involved. We hope you’re saying it with us by the time we close on Saturday!

Amadeus is showing on the 25th – 29th of October at 7:45 pm at the ADC Theatre. Book your tickets here.

Feature image credit: Katie Wrench

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